


The Wastelands

by BossyAndIronic



Category: The Waste Land - T. S. Eliot
Genre: Body Horror, Emotional Manipulation, Major Character Undeath, Mind Manipulation, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-24 14:29:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6156595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BossyAndIronic/pseuds/BossyAndIronic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's easy to say that the world went to shit. It all started in 200X, with the atomic bomb that was large enough to almost create atomic genocide. Almost. Only a few hundred thousand of the once billions of human race survived. Safe Havens were created for the richest of survivors. One thousand Safe Havens in total, each holding close to three. The rest of the population was left to die in the Wastelands. Reflection and the Stars happened to be eight of them. Horrifying mercenaries who were loyal to only one man, and were willing to kill anyone who crossed him. To everyone else, they were cold-hearted and cared for no one else but themselves, but no one really knew the true story behind the mercenaries.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Quick Disclaimer. I have no idea what the fandom I chose was, it was the only one even remotely related to my story.

My name is Mieczyslaw Dame. I have an older brother named Justyn Dame, I’m 21 years old, and I’ve lived in Safe Haven 105 since I was born.  
“Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to you? What are you...No! Stop, please! Please, someone help!”  
My name is Mieczyslaw...Dame. I...I have an older...brother named...named…  
“Please, just stop! Why me, what did I do! God, someone please help me!”  
My name is...My name is…  
“Please...please just...help…”  
...Who am I…  
******************************************************************************  
“Your name is Reflection, and you were born June 9, 201X, and you were born into a family who hated you and abandoned you, and we took you in.”  
“My name is Reflection, and I was born June 9, 201X, and I was born into a family who hated me and abandoned me, and you took me in.”  
“You work under the command of Mr. Farge, and you’re loyal to only him.”  
“I work under the command of Mr. Farge, and I am loyal to only him.”  
“Your partners are Blue Star and Purple Star, and you have known them your entire life.”  
“My partners are Blue Star and Purple Star, and I have known them my entire life.”  
“You trust them with your life.”  
“I trust them with my life.”  
“Good, now tell me, who are you?”  
“I am Reflection, born June 9, 201X, and I work under the command of Mr. Farge, loyal to only him. My partners are Blue Star and Purple Star, who I trust with my life.”  
“Mental Conditioning worked as a success, Subject 0 is ready for training. You’re going to do great out in the Wasteland, Reflection.”  
******************************************************************************  
A boom sounded from outside my tent, shocking me awake. I panted heavily, feeling the cold sweat rolling down from my forehead to my neck. I got up, dusting off the dirt from my dark pants, and with it, the dreams from last night. Frowning, I paused as I raised my hand to open my tent flap. I don’t know what they were, but they seemed...close to memories. But that couldn’t have been possible. The entirety of my life I had never known my family, only my teammates who were abandoned by their family as well, and I never had any other name other than Reflection, so what was that?  
I shook my head, the frown slipping from my face as I stepped out of my tent, lifting the cloth around my neck to block the blowing sand that tumbled across the desert ground, snapping my dark, shaded goggles on to make sure my eyes didn’t get damaged by the rough sand. Around me, Blue Star and Purple Star got out of their own tents, hearing the boom that sounded only a few 50 miles away, at the very least.  
“What was that?” Purple yelled, her bright purple hair already whipping and whirling from the wind, shielding her eyes from the sandstorm that was most likely to come in at approximately...ten minutes.  
“I don’t know! What I do know is that we gotta get out of here if we don’t wanna get stuck in the sandstorm! Let’s pack up!” I ordered, going back inside my tent to pack the light things I carried with me on the mission.  
From outside, I could hear Blue yelling, “But the direction the wind’s blowing from...that’s where Magnolia City is!”  
“You mean the one we were supposed to destroy?” Purple asked, yelling over the wind as I heard them pack up their things.  
“Doesn’t matter!” I barked, coming out of my tent, “I’ll radio Command Station once we get out of this mess, but for now, let’s just worry about getting farther away from the sandstorm rolling in!”  
We got our tents packed up, along with the small things we carried with it, and strapped our things to the horses Command Station gave to us a few years ago, when they first let us go on missions. Putting my two swords back into their sheaths, I climbed onto my horse, grabbing the cloak I had left on its neck and wrapping it around me, pulling the hood to cover my head. I grabbed the reins, and tugged, making it turn to the others.  
“Ready? We need to leave now!” I yelled, looking to the other two.  
“Ready, sir!” Blue yelled, slapping the reins so he could get closer to me, stopping once he got to the left of me.  
“All ready!” Purple yelled, following Blue’s actions and getting her horse to stop to the right of mine.  
“Let’s head out! We’ll make it to Command Station in a few hours, so get comfortable!” I barked, and slapped the reins roughly, digging my heels into the horse’s sides, and the horse galloped off, the other two shortly behind me.  
Looking back for a moment, I saw the brewing sandstorm fall behind more and more, putting more distance between us. Frowning, my mind ran off to other things than getting to Command Station, wondering why the sandstorm had came from Magnolia City, which was known as the City of Merchants and Thieves. The major company that ran Magnolia City had double-crossed Mr. Farge, the man who took all eight of us in when we were just babies, so we were sent to take care of it, i.e., burn it to the ground.  
It took us about an hour before we were clear from the wind, but I knew it would come back as quickly as it came. Thankfully, we had made it to Command Station just in time, guessing by the small hints of wind picking up from the direction of the sandstorm.  
“The storm’s coming in! Purple, get the door!” I ordered as all three of us jumped off of our horses.  
Purple ran to the door, and Blue grabbed her horse’s reins, leading it over to him. She grabbed the handle of the door, turning it this way and that before the foot thick chunk of metal opened, creaking open as the sand around our feet began tumbling and blowing up into the air. We quickly lead our horses inside the elevator, and I grabbed the door, straining against the wind to shut it. Finally, the locks clicked into place, and I went to stand next to my horse as the elevator whirred to life, slowly descending.  
“...Do you think the sandstorm will pass quickly?” Purple asked us, her quiet voice breaking the awkward silence that grew in the elevator.  
I sighed, leaning against my horse as the elevator slowed to a stop in front of two thick metal doors, “Hopefully, let’s just pray that the storm doesn’t knock out the power.”  
“Yeah, all we got to do is pray. Only thing is, who do we pray to?” Blue muttered.  
The corners of my lips turned down slightly at what he said. We all knew that the topic over who was up there, if there even was an ‘up there’, was sensitive. We live a cruel life, and our only salvation throughout our life was Mr. Farge, and no one else. We never had a God we could pray to, people with wings to look over our lives as we grew up. Just the hot and cruel Wasteland with Mr. Farge as our only family.  
I stepped forward, pressing my hand against the touch screen so it would recognize my fingerprints and let us in. Finally, the doors slid open, and I grabbed my horse’s reins, pulling him inside as Blue and Purple followed with their horses. I nodded at the many workers, already used to the many looks of fear they sent us. I remember a time when they would look at us with pity, and treat us as children who were weak. But ever since our first mission, their eyes would scream fear and mercy. It was fine. It was all part of the job, it was my life. Our life.  
A nameless man walked towards us, grabbing the reins of all of our horses wordlessly and leading them through a doorway, leaving us to stand in the middle of the room awkwardly, with people in lab coats rushing around us and avoiding looking at us. Finally, after a few tense moments, Mr. Farge walked into the room, a big grin on his face as the labcoats rushed to get out of his way.  
“Ah, children! How did the mission go? You came home a bit earlier than I expected, but I assume everything went according to plan?” He said, stopping right in front of me as he clapped his hands together.  
I hesitated, and gulped as his big grin faltered at the look in my eyes, “Well, not exactly?”  
Mr. Farge’s grin was almost gone, but it suddenly popped back, “How about we talk about this in the Conference room, yes?”  
I could hear Blue and Purple’s anxiousness, and I nodded, following as he walked out of the room with long strides, jogging to catch up with him. Finally, we reached the Conference room, and he pushed open the doors, holding them open as we walked in one by one. Finally, as we stood in line at the front of the room, facing the table, he slammed the doors close, his grin falling to a malicious sneer. He stomped his way to the front of the table, slumping down in it as he held his head up with fingers pressed against his forehead.  
“What do you mean, “Not exactly”?” He growled, causing the two on either side of me to jump.  
I spoke calmly, used to his anger, “Well, sir, we were more than halfway there when a sandstorm began to roll in, coming from the direction towards Magnolia City. We were unable to continue, and by the look of the cameras placed in Magnolia City, it seems that someone beat us to the punch.”  
Mr. Farge’s nostrils flared, and I braced myself, my shoulders pulled back as I closed my eyes. But, nothing came. I opened one eye, blinking in shock from how he looked. He had his head in his arms, and I knew he was doing it to calm down.  
“Once this sandstorm passes,” Mr. Farge whispered, his head still laid down, “I want Blue and Purple to go out there with Red and find out what happened, understood?”  
“Yes, sir!” Blue and Purple voiced in unison, saluting Mr. Farge.  
“You two can go. I need to have a talk with Reflection.” He said in a tone close to a whisper.  
They nodded, and filed out, both of them occasionally looking back at me in worry. I stood still, waiting for him to speak. Mr. Farge just sat there, staring at me in silence. As more time passed, I was panicking even more inside my head, refusing to show it.  
“Find out who did this, and kill them.” He said slowly, analyzing my reactions closely, “You can even do it anyway you want to, just make sure they’re dead before the year is out. Dismissed.”  
I nodded, and left, closing the door behind me. I made sure as I passed by the labcoats to not show anything of what I was feeling on my face. My hands shook, and I clenched them into fists to stop them from shaking too much, and I walked faster towards the doors on the other side, feeling my resolve slowly begin to fade away.  
Finally, I made it to the doors. I slammed them open, stepping inside and collapsing against them, the doors slamming close and locking with a click. I sighed, looking up to see Blue and Orange staring at me worriedly, the other five looking down at the table.  
“Hey guys…” I whispered with a hoarse voice, stumbling forward to take a seat at the table.  
“Another mission?” Green asked in a quiet voice, staring down at his cup of the strange black liquid that Mr. Farge said was called ‘coffee’.  
“I just nodded, folding my hands on the table surface, “It’s dumb anyway. We’re trained killers. I should be used to it by now…”  
“Just because we’re killers does not mean we’re not human.” Red said angrily, tying their long dark hair back into a bun.  
“What Red said is right,” Yellow whispered, looking at me with his fucking puppy eyes.  
I grimaced, “How can we call ourselves human when what we’ve done for most of our life is just...kill?”  
“Because we aren’t mindless murderers!” Red shouted at me, quieting down almost instantly, “Because...the people we kill, we kill for a reason. We kill the ones who go out and kill people senselessly. We’re not the monsters. We just kill them.”


	2. Chapter 2

‘The plans have changed!’ was the first thing I heard as I stepped out of the bathrooms we shared. I dressed quickly as Green ran over, panting harshly.  
“Mr. Farge ordered us all to the conference room in ten.” He pushed out, his small blonde braids bouncing as he turned and ran, the doors slamming behind him.  
I grabbed my cloak, wrapping it around my shoulders as I stepped out of our room. I pushed my way through the crowd of labcoats, growling when a female managed to step on my boots. It didn’t hurt me, so I just walked past her shaken, shivering form. I pushed the doors open, feeling a migraine start to buzz at the back of my eyes. Blinking, I shook my head and went to take my place at the head of the table.  
Slowly, the others began to file in and take their seats on either side of me. Finally, Black walked in with no greeting and sat across from me at the other end of the table. We waited. And waited. And waited. Until, finally, Mr. Farge walked in.  
“As you know, our plans for Magnolia City have changed.” He said as a greeting, going to stand behind me, his hand resting on my shoulder, “I originally planned for Red, Blue, and Purple to head over there and see what happened, with Reflection there as protection. But I scrapped that idea. Yellow, Red, and Orange will be going to Magnolia City, and the rest of you will be staying here.”  
I frowned, going to protest but Black beat me to the punch by saying, “Sir, what about Reflection. I hate to say this, you know I do, but he would be suited better to go alone.”  
Mr. Farge just frowned at her, “Black, do not question my orders. I expected better.” Those few words had her stony face fall slightly. “Either way, you’re better with defense, which is what they need, while Reflection is better on offense.”  
Black just nodded, pulling back her hunched shoulders to stand taller. As I stared up at Mr. Farge, I noticed Green shift his gaze towards his longtime lover, Yellow, and they just sorta...looked at each other. I shifted my eyes back to Mr. Farge, knowing I was intruding on some emotional stuff.  
“Black, Yellow, Red, Orange...Please go to the debriefing room and I’ll be there in a moment. I have to talk with the rest of them.” Mr. Farge said with a smile on his face.  
In unison, the four of them stood and bowed, leaving in a line. We waited for a moment, watching as Mr. Farge walked around us and to the hologram that projected a map of the Wastelands. A few tense moments passed, silence the only thing that filled the room.  
“You four...you four are something, huh?” Mr. Farge whispered, his back still to us. “I picked you four for something we’ve been preparing for about a year now, and I felt that you all would be the most perfect for this mission.”  
I looked over to the other three, seeing the many frowns and grimaces. It was strange that he would pick us four, especially for a mission with all four of us together. Individually, we were amazing in the battlefield. Quick thinking, resourceful, powerful, anything Mr. Farge would ever need in his mercenaries, but when we were together...We tended to be reckless and rebellious. We would often go against his orders and do things our way.  
“But sir…” Green started, wringing his hands, “After our last mission, I don’t think…”  
“It doesn’t matter what you think,” Mr. Farge cut him off sharply, turning his head to glare at us, “I order you to do this mission, whether you like it or not. You don’t want to disappoint me again, do you?”  
Green’s face in itself made my heart ache, and he shook his head, leaning back in his chair, “No, sir…”  
“That’s what I thought.” Mr. Farge murmured, and he turned and walked to the door, speaking as he left, “I expect you to be here in thirty minutes, prepared for this mission once the others have left.”  
I stood up, nodding for the others to follow me. As I stepped out the door, I looked over my shoulder many times to make sure no one had seen us. Quickly, we walked to our room, and I collapsed in one of the chairs next to my bed. Blue and Purple just fell against each other on the floor, watching me with tired eyes like fraternal twins. Green just went over to Yellow’s bed, falling against it and cuddling one of his many blankets.  
“I...they’re not gonna get hurt, Green. I promise.” I whispered over to him.  
“You don’t know that!” He yelled, his screams muffled by the blanket.  
I frowned, staring at him, “Black’s just as good as me, Green. She’ll protect the three of them.”  
He stayed silent, and after some time, I turned my attention to Blue and Purple. Standing up, I quickly walked over to them, kneeling in front of their faces.  
“You two okay?” I asked, my tone quiet and gentle.  
Blue smiled with a painful tint to it, “Can you get one of the first aid kits? One of the mutants got me out there…”  
I nodded, and stood up. I grabbed the medkit on the wall, going back to kneeling in front of him. He moved his hand a bit, revealing a nasty gash on his ribs. I sighed, and just instructed him to remove his shirt, waiting as he did what I said. I cleaned the gash up, letting Purple take care of the ripped and bloody shirt. As I wrapped the bandages around his ribs, Purple returned with a smile and a new clean RMF shirt for Blue. I just let a tired smile loose, and handed Blue the new shirt. He winced as he put it on, but other than that, he seemed fine. Purple went back to sitting next to her pseudo-brother, rubbing his shoulder with a strained smile.  
We were used to this. The tense silence before a mission, and the pain of waiting. After a few minutes, Green walked over to us, his hair tousled, and sat next to me, laying his head against my shoulder. We waited, and once it was five minutes before we had to be there, I stood up, stretching as the others followed my lead. I walked ahead of the others, and we managed to get in and sit down just as Mr. Farge entered the room.  
He smiled at us, “Ah, you four are here. Good, come along. You won’t need weapons for this.” He walked out of the door, smiling over his shoulder at us.  
We just glanced at each other with confused gazes, and followed him. He lead us through countless amounts of stairs, and after walking for at the very least an hour, he finally stopped in front of an old rusty door. He put his hand against the sensor, and the door creaked open slowly. Once it was fully open, he walked through. We followed him, but slower than before. The room we entered was vast and dark, with old torches lining the walls and alight with fire that burned a shadow across the walls, giving the room an ominous look. He walked forward, stopping at a line and looking back to make sure we were still there.  
I slowly followed him, and just as I got right up next to him, I stepped back, shocked at what I saw. It was horrifying. Green acidic liquid bubbled and boiled below in a wide crater, and even getting near it creeped me out, as if I could hear the screams of mutants that had been trapped and forced to enter the acid-like liquid. The other stepped up next to me, and I didn’t even notice Mr. Farge stepping back away from the rim.  
“Mr. Farge…” I whispered, my eyes wide as I stared down at the crater, “What is this? Mr. Farge?”  
He wasn’t there anymore, and just as Purple turned her head to look behind us, rough hands pushed us off the rim. Screaming was all I heard, and I had a moment to realize that I had grabbed the rough ground, hanging from the edge. The others weren’t as lucky. I could feel my eyes stinging with unshed tears as Purple and Blue were pushed head-first into the liquid, their agonizing screams tearing through my skull as the acid burned through their flesh and muscle, revealing Purple’s bone in her neck, or showing Blue’s jaw, dripping with acid. Finally, their screams stopped, but I could hear Green screaming in panic as he slid down the side, grabbing at anything he could see. It didn’t help. His heart-wrenching scream forced me to close my eyes, and after a few minutes, he stopped screaming. A sob tore from my throat, and I looked back up at the man who had pushed us.  
“Why…” I murmured, using all my strength to hang on.  
He just stared down at me, a cruel shine in his eyes. Stepping forward, his black boots crushed my fingers, and I muffled my screams by biting my tongue. It hurt, but what hurt more was seeing the others in the acid. I was full-out sobbing by now. I didn’t want this. Why would he do this? He loved us, didn’t he? Why us?  
Finally, a kick to my face caused my hand to slip from the rim of the crater. Pain. Pain was all I felt. Agonizing moments that were filled with Mr. Farge just standing at the rim, a smirk on his face as he watched me slip under the acid. Finally, everything went dark, and I felt nothing.


	3. Chapter 3

It was silent in the ominous cavern, acid bubbling the only thing that was heard. A year of silence after the terrifying events that were accompanied by agonizing screams. An entire year, and the remaining mercenaries were wrecked. Yellow had gone cold and emotionless, Red and Orange crying themselves to sleep and fighting any chance they had, much unlike the happy couple they once were. And Black....she just tried to pull them all together again, but Reflection had been the glue that brought them close, closer than family or friends. They were fed lies, lies on how the other four mercenaries had died.  
A mission gone wrong...nothing left of them…  
Mutants had gotten to them while they were sleeping…  
Torn to shreds…  
Never coming back…  
All it took was a few tears on Mr. Farge’s spot, before they believed every lie he told them.  
******************************************************************************  
An ear-shattering scream suddenly filled the cavern, echoing. It rumbled the earth, specks of dirt and stone falling from the top of the cavern and shattering on the ground or dissolving in the acid.  
The acid parted slightly as a hand reached from below the surface, dripping with the green liquid. It was all bone, and it reached farther and farther for the rim of the crater, before it eventually dragged out a head, that was connected to the dripping and skeletal body. The skeleton jaw was wide open, screeching falling from it.  
Eventually, it flopped onto the ground, clawing at the ground as one, two, and then three more like it followed. They writhed on the ground in what looked like pain, screeching and howling at nothing. The first skeleton, as it clawed at the ground, stopped writhing, trembling in what seemed like pain as muscle appeared from nowhere, wrapping itself around the skeleton.  
Plump and bloody organs were beginning to appear just below the skeleton’s ribs, at danger of falling out before the muscle wrapped around. The other skeletons followed along, keeping quiet and just shivering or trembling as the muscle and new organs appeared on their ‘body’. Skin sprouted on the muscle, spreading along the entire body. On one of the skeletons, the muscle had formed two lumps on the chest, skin wrapping around them as quickly as the first. Soon, there were four naked people on the ground, sobbing in relief and going to hug each other despite their bareness.  
But one of them...stayed kneeling on the ground, his growling growing louder and louder before he screamed out in fury, “Farge!”  
************************************************************************  
I stood there, shocked at what had just happened. I was angry, furious at what Mr. Farge had done to Blue, Purple, Green and I. How dare he try and kill us!? I had screamed out his name, and as I did, a burst of changing colors formed a ring around me, shooting towards the others. Before the ring of flashing colors reached them, a blue shield surrounded them, clashing against the ring of colors. It cracked but it kept them safe, and disappeared as soon as the rings vaporized into nothing.  
Blue stood in front of Purple and Green, his hands up in defense, still glowing blue slightly. We looked at each other in shock, and, looking down at my own bare body, it looked like I was still glowing inter-changing colors as well.  
“What was...that?” Green asked, his eyes wide as wrung his hands.  
“I...I don’t know…” Blue whispered.  
I tried to answer, but I couldn’t. A burst of pain stabbed through my skull, causing me to scream out and fall to my knees. I heard the rest yell out, looking up with watering eyes as they fell to the floor. The cavern was filled with screaming this time, and I watched as the others’ skin began to glow with an orange-heat, steam rolling off of their skin. Steam blocked my eyesight, and I closed my eyes, holding my head desperately to try and stop the pain. After what seemed like an eternity, but was actually probably a few minutes, the pain stopped. I was panting on the floor, shivering and curling into myself.  
In the back of my head, I managed to hear Purple whimpering, with shuddering breaths escaping Green’s mouth. I looked up at them, seeing Blue’s face scrunched up in pain, but that’s not what I was staring at. Blue had what looked like marking burned into his body, forming around his shoulders and trailing over his arms and back. I struggled to my knees, looking over to Purple. She had designs that looked somewhat similar, but they were curling around her wrists and hands, before they reappeared back on her ankles and feet. Stumbling onto my feet, I looked at Green with blurry eyes, seeing that his markings were wrapped around his neck, trailing to his navel in a somewhat straight line.  
They struggled to their feet, leaning against each other and taking deep heavy breaths. Gritting my feet, I ignored the nagging aftermath of the pain on my head and walked over to them.  
“Your...your face…” Purple murmured, looking over to me as she rubbed her wrists, wincing occasionally.  
I chuckled, grimacing and pressing my fingers to my temple, “I know...I’m just gonna guess it’s somewhat similar to your’s…”  
A strained smile pulled Blue’s lips, “What do we do, Reflection?”  
I stared at my feet, watching blood drip from miniscule cuts that already had dust and pebbles embedded into them. For the first time in what seemed like a long time, I had nothing. I didn’t know what to do. Gulping, I looked back up at them, my eyes nervously shifting to look at the wall of the cavern behind them.  
“I...I don’t know…” I whispered hoarsely.  
It was back to being silent, and I hated it. I was their leader, the strong one. Even if I wasn’t the oldest in our little group, that just gave me even more reason to prove my strength to them. I had to be stronger than them, I had to be the one who was always there for them. It’s been like that for years.  
I was shocked back when Purple’s arms were wrapped around me, hugging me tightly and whispering that it was okay, that we would figure out something together. I was tense, grimacing as I forced myself not to do what I was about to, but then the other two just had to freaking hug me as well. They formed a circle around me, giving me comforting words I didn’t deserve. Before I was even realizing what I was doing, my body was racking with sobs, and I fell to my knees for what seemed like the hundredth time. They fell to their knees as well, their arms still tight and comforting. I buried my face in blue hair, babbling nonsense.  
“I’m so sorry. If it wasn’t for me...Oh god, this happened because of me. I’m so sorry I ruined your lives. I’m so, so sorry.” I cried out, wrapping my arms around all three of them somehow, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorr-”  
Green cut me off, his voice silkier than before, “Shut up, Reflection, okay? Shut up and let us hug you.”  
“It’s not your fault,” Purple murmured, burying her face into my back, “We couldn’t have possibly known this was going to happen.”  
“If you’re going to blame anyone, blame Mr. Farge,” Blue practically growled out his name.  
I nodded numbly, looking at the wall as I stopped crying. I pushed them off of me gently, smiling at them and rubbing the dried tear tracks off of my face. We sat there, finally noticing how naked we were. It didn’t really bother us, seeing as we all shared a shower together more than just a few times, so we focused on other things. Getting out of here. I stood up, brushing the dirt off of my body and walked over to the door, the others following shortly behind me. I ran my fingers gently over the door, and tensed up as I heard a small voice at the back of my head whisper ‘Purple. Punch the door.’  
“Purple.” I said, looking over my shoulder to her, “Punch the door.”  
“What!?” She said, looking at me as if I was asking her to do the impossible.  
Right now, it seemed impossible, but the voice kept telling me to do it, to get her to punch the door.  
I just frowned at her, “Do it.” I let my face soften, relaxing my tense shoulders, “Please…”  
“Purple, do it. Just trust him.” Blue whispered, rubbing her shoulder.  
Purple grimaced, looking to Green for help. He just stared at her, hesitating before nodding, whispering for her to go ahead.  
She looked towards me, “Promise me I won’t hurt myself?”  
I smiled, “Promise. Trust me, as your leader and family.”  
That got her, and she nodded, her eyes narrowing in determination. I stepped back, allowing her to walk right in front of the thick door. For a moment, she seemed as if she was hesitating, but it was gone as fast as it came, and she crouched in a fighting stance. She reared her hand back, and in a split-second, I had doubt at what was supposed to happen, but before I could say anything, her fist had already hit the door, the metal creaking with the force. The markings on her wrist and hand glowed a deep violet, and the metal door collapsed, leaving a wide opening. We stared at the crumbled metal door on the floor for a moment, before Purple had thrown her hands into the air, whooping quite loudly. We shushed her, but she just smiled and continued cheering in a whisper-like tone.  
Blue attacked her with a strong hug, and Green patted her back, both trying to be as quiet as possible.  
“Come on,” I whispered, waving my hand for them to follow.  
The stairway had a deafening silence inside it, and somewhere in the distance, I could hear labcoats talking and their shoes thudding on the tile floor. Our bare feet made no noise as we ran up the stairs, stopping at the metal door that would open into a long hallway. We just stood there for a moment, silent and tense as time passed by.  
“We’re here...but what now?” Green asked, his hands unconsciously clenching in the corner of my eye.  
“I don’t know...but whatever we do…” I said, looking back at them.  
“We do together.” Blue and Purple said in unison, grabbing each other’s hands, and Green nodded.  
Looking back to the door, the sounds of labcoats grew louder. I placed my hand against it, and gasped as everything around me went dark, images of the hallway and the elevator flashing in my head. As the images passed each room you would need to pass to get to the elevator, the labcoats seemed to be frozen, and a dark blue line made a path as to assure they wouldn’t see us. I jerked back, gaping at the door. I closed my mouth, and looked back over to the others.  
“I know what we have to do.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Do you think we’ll see the others?” Green whispered as I explained the plan to them.  
I hesitated, and shook my head, “No. The plan never included any of them. They might bring us to Mr. Farge if they see us, and we can’t let that happen.”  
Blue was sitting on the dirt floor, leaning against the door with his arm around Purple’s shoulders, “But what if we accidentally see them? What then?”  
I looked down at my hand, turning it this way and that as I watched it glow a multitude of colors, a small blue flame igniting on the palm of my hand, “Then we find out what these markings really do.”  
Green immediately shot up, yelling while keeping a quiet tone to his voice, “We can’t hurt them! We’ve been with them for our entire lives!”  
Purple shook her head, looking up at him with sad eyes, “I don’t know what you saw while we were in that...acid...but I saw a different life. Not the one I “remembered” with all of you.”  
I looked to her in shock. Had she been getting those dreams too?  
“I had a niece...she was so beautiful, with bright blonde hair, and gorgeous green eyes…” A tense silence filled the room as we waited for her to continue, “I saw them kill her. My older sister, her husband, their little baby...I saw Black kill her, and now I don’t know what reality is true or not.”  
“I’ve been getting those for a while now,” I whispered, leaning my chin on my knees as I wrapped my arms around them, “I had an older brother...Isaac, and we both lived in a Safe Haven. I remember a labcoat’s words to me, something about mental conditioning. It was horrifying. I could feel the pain, and hear myself begging for them to stop whatever they were doing. I...I thought they were just dreams…”  
Purple crawled over to me, hugging me tightly. I could feel Blue and Green’s stares on us, and decided that was enough break time. I shook her off gently, looking up at them. They seemed to understand what I was thinking, and stood up, readying themselves into a fighting stance. I nodded at Purple, signaling for her to go ahead. She smiled, and within a second, the door was in pieces on the floor. Almost immediately, the alarms began to go off. I had seen in my head something like that would happen. I saw every scenario play out in only thirty seconds, each branching direction this escape could go. I picked out all the possible scenarios that had this happen, and crouched on the floor, pressing my glowing palms against the tile of the floors. My mind flashed and was filled with the images of every room in the compound, showing who was where. Black, Red, Orange, and Mr. Farge were gone, leaving only Yellow...who was running to the room we were in as fast as he could.  
Quickly standing up again, I yelled to Purple as I joined Blue and Green as they fought, “Purple! The doors!”  
She nodded at me, running to the doors that had lead to the long hallway we had just come down. Slamming the doors together, she grabbed an overturned chair that was laying next to her. Her marks began to glow as she bended the chair this way and that, until it formed something similar to a pole, and put it in-between the handles of the door, twisting it until it formed a lock around the handles, ensuring nobody would walk in. A second later, bangs were heard from the other side of the doors, most likely Yellow.  
“Hey, what’s going on in there! Let me in! Let me in or I swear you’ll regret it!” Yup, Yellow.  
I could see Green turning back to look at the doors, letting the dead labcoat in his hands fall to the ground. Stepping in front of his view of the doors, I grabbed his shoulders, shaking him gently.  
“Don’t. You know what happens if we see him.” I whispered, ignoring the fight around us.  
He stared over my shoulder, and his hands clenched into fists, nodding as he gritted his teeth. He backed away from me, going to grab the labcoats that were huddling underneath their control systems. Yellow was still screaming in anger, his voice growing louder as the room began to grow quiet. Finally, all the labcoat’s screaming died once all of them were on the floor, either knocked out or dead.  
Blue sat down next to me, his head in his hands. Purple walked over to us, crossing her arms as she stared at the door that Yellow was banging on. We stayed silent, watching Green cautiously as to make sure he wouldn’t run to the door and try to tell Yellow it was us.  
“What now?” Blue asked, looking up at us curiously. “We killed almost every lab coat Farge had at his expense.”  
“And we’re still naked, you know, just in case anyone forgot.” Purple said easily, her eyes shifting towards a silent Green every now and then.  
Suddenly, Green whispered to her, “Purple, open the doors.”  
Blue and I looked at him in shock, but what surprised me even more was that Purple suddenly went still, walking over to the doors. I noticed Green’s marks glow a dark green as he spoke to her with that silky voice again. We tried to grab her arms, but her wrists started glowing and before we knew what was happening, we were sliding across the floor. I bit my tongue but Blue cried out in pain as his back hit one of the desk’s legs, almost bending backwards cross it. I looked up at Purple, and saw her eyes glowing a green as she haltingly walked towards the door, pulling the chair out of the door’s handles.  
The doors slammed open and Yellow ran inside, his cutlass in his hands. The expression on his face would’ve been hilarious if it wasn’t for the situation we were in right now.  
“Wha-” he started, but cut off as Green’s silky voice poured over us, him.  
“Bring us our clothes and weapons.” Green stated, and once I focused on him, I could see a wobbly smile on his face, his hands clenching at his side.  
Yellow’s eyes glowed green, and he nodded, turning around and walking away from us. I slowly got up, walking next to Green, raising my hand to put on his shoulder.  
“No.” he snapped at me, his smile disappearing and a grimace replacing it, “I can’t break my concentration.”  
I nodded, and walked to go help Blue up, letting him lean on me. Yellow walked back in, somehow balancing clothes and our weapons in his arms. It seemed Green had broken his hold on Purple, as she shook her head, glaring at Green and opening her mouth to most likely yell at him.  
Blue shushed her, and I helped him walk towards Yellow. I grabbed his and my clothes, Purple grabbing her own. Green grabbed his clothes and our weapons, handing them to us. We quickly got dressed, standing near the door and watching Green. He walked over to Yellow who was staring blankly off in space, and stroked the taller’s face. I could hear Green sniffling, and grimaced as he gasped through his tears.  
“Forget about us. Forget about me. We were never here, and you-” he broke off, trying to catch his breath. “-you n-never knew m-me. Go to sleep.”  
Green kissed Yellow’s cheek at his last words, and stepped back, catching the taller’s body as he fell, knocked out. He carefully laid him out on the floor, kissing his cheek before walking over to us. Tears were still rolling down his cheek as he smiled at us. I let Blue lean on Purple before I hugged Green fiercely, closing my eyes as he broke down and began sobbing into my shoulder. I was exhausted, and the others seemed as well. This took too much out of us emotionally.  
Lifting Green in my arms as he continued sobbing, I nodded for Purple to get the elevator’s doors. She nodded, and pried them open, leading Blue inside. Walking in, I pressed the buttons for it to take us above to the surface. We stayed silent as we waited, and it took a moment for me to realize that Green was now sleeping, occasionally sniffling in his sleep. We were out. It was over.  
******************************************************************************  
It was night out, the stars twinkling brightly in the sky. Only then did it hit me. I had seen it as we left, the date on one of the screens that was projecting a camera view of Burnett City, the infamous city of traders and raiders. We’ve been gone for an entire year. What happened while we were gone? Did anything change? I just shook myself out of it as we exited the elevator, deciding I’d tell them later, once we found shelter. Blue had recovered once we stepped outside, and didn’t have to lean on Purple anymore, which made things a lot easier.  
Immediately, we started running. As we exited, I noticed one of the cameras watching us. I stopped, and laid Green on the ground, walking over to the camera. The other two stopped once they noticed I was just standing and staring at the camera.  
“Reflect, don’t.” Blue warned as he noticed the way I was looking at the camera.  
I looked over my shoulder at him, hesitating and frowning, “They already know we’re here. If they don’t guess what happened, they’ll find out what happened thanks to this-” I pointed at the camera.”-so why not?”  
Purple agreed with me, He’s right, Blue. It’s not as if he would show this to them. He knows that would damage his relationship with them depending on what he told them about us missing.”  
Green suddenly shot up, panting harshly as he scrambled to his feet. He noticed us standing around him and raised his eyebrows in question.  
“We’re deciding what to do with the camera.” I answered, flicking my eyes towards it.  
“Oh,” he said, and leaned against the boulder behind him, taking deep breaths, “I just...I’ll tell you once that thing goes offline.”  
I nodded, and looked to the others, and began talking as they waved for me to go ahead, “Surprised to see us, Mr. Farge? After that whole scenario in the cavern, I thought I wouldn’t ever see you again either. To be honest, even once I had managed to survive, I wished that I wouldn’t ever have to talk or look at you ever again. If only, eh?” I smiled wide at the camera, “Don’t come after us. Don’t hunt us down. Don’t even try to communicate with us. Because if I ever see you near one of us again, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”  
“Death is too nice of a punishment,” Green murmured, folding his arms across his chest as he glared at the camera.  
“I agree with him,” Purple said, looking at the camera with disgust, “For a disgusting man like him, for a man who would’ve willingly killed a baby, he needs to suffer.”  
Blue stayed silent, staring at the camera with a hard look on his face.  
I looked back to the camera, and peaked an eyebrow at it, “You just lost the trust of four of your greatest mercenaries, and you know what happens to people when they cross us.”  
With that, I reached forward and grabbed the small camera in my hands and crushed it, spreading the remains all over the dirt. Looking over to Green, I let my smile fall from my face.  
“What happened?” I asked, walking towards him.  
“I don’t know but…” Green sighed, “I just saw a city, and some voice told me we needed to go there. What do you think?”  
“Seeing as that voice managed to get us out of the base,” I stepped back, raising my arm, “Lead the way.”  
He nodded and began to walk towards the direction of where the town was most likely located, and we followed him. Hopefully this voice would be helpful again.


End file.
